Lama Surya Dashttp://www.surya.org
tagline goes hereThu, 17 Aug 2017 20:15:42 -0400en-UShourly1Lama Surya’s “Awakening Now” Podcast Ep. 47 “Right View on the Noble Eightfold Path”http://www.surya.org/lama-suryas-awakening-now-podcast-ep-47-right-view-on-the-noble-eightfold-path/
http://www.surya.org/lama-suryas-awakening-now-podcast-ep-47-right-view-on-the-noble-eightfold-path/#respondThu, 17 Aug 2017 20:15:42 +0000http://www.surya.org/?p=5215905845Lama Surya’s “Awakening Now” Podcast
Ep. 47 “Right View on the Noble Eightfold Path”
]]>http://www.surya.org/lama-suryas-awakening-now-podcast-ep-47-right-view-on-the-noble-eightfold-path/feed/0Unity in Diversityhttp://www.surya.org/unity-in-diversity/
http://www.surya.org/unity-in-diversity/#respondMon, 31 Jul 2017 14:54:38 +0000http://www.surya.org/?p=5215905836I just returned from our 24th annual summer weeklong Dzogchen retreat, held again on the Hudson River bank in Garrison, NY, where hundreds of acres have been reserved in their sylvan beauty and natural grace. We meditators rejoiced in and enjoyed the delightful presence of so many different kinds and types of people—- colors, professions, ages, genders, nationalities; for all breeds and all creeds are heartily welcomed at our Dharma Dog-House! Bow wow! Along with all variety of characters, Paris-based singer-songwriter Ben Beirs, a long time Dzogchen student, played classical guitar on two evenings and I chanted and bantered with him. Here’s the link if you’d like to listen and watch in- www.youtube.com.

There is unity in diversity. We are all interdependent, and share an underlying inter-being; check it out! I believe that it’s incumbent upon wise and discerning people to learn to see it, especially in these fractious, divisive days. Great French mathematician Rene Descartes said: “God is the circle whose center is everywhere and circumference nowhere.” We are all included and embraced by whatever higher-power word like God may mean to us or stand for. This is the mandala principle seminal psychologist and East-West thinker Carl Jung wrote about (it’s like a hologram), as an excellent metaphor for the web of being, the psyche, and all its interconnected, interwoven, distinct yet coherent and unified dimensions. That sacredness or at least intrinsic humanistic value is in and includes each and all of us, don’tcha’ think?

When I see myself and my needs and wishes in you and yours in mine, who would I exclude, exploit, discriminate against or harm? Concerning empathy and harmonious re-alignment,

Native American wisdom tells us if you want to know where a man is coming from, walk a few miles in his moccasins.

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” And so, here we are, living in volatile times, even capable of eradicating ourselves from the face of the planet. If we are paying attention, days like these can provide us with a genuine learning opportunity for conscious evolution and enhancing our discernment, combined with a heartfelt need to build community for solace in kindred spirits and meaningful connection.

To help muster the energy required to face the challenges of our complex world, I rely on what Buddhist activists call

The Three Freedoms:

Freedom from undue hope & expectations

Freedom from fear & anxiety

Freedom from selfishness & bias

Buddhism teaches that nothing is more dangerous than an untrained or unhealthy mind, and nothing more conducive to great happiness and wellness than a well-trained clear and wise mind. Yet it’s not only all about mind and intellect, our emotions, body, energy and soulful dimension also come into play. Right action can be a way of achieving one’s goals. Practicing patient forbearance in the face of harm and abuse, without being overly passive in our pacifism, we find that nonviolence is and can be a dynamic multi-dimensional means of persuasion, a technique for political activism, and a recipe for peacemaking and harmonizing—a fearless and forceful way of living authentically as well as speaking truth to power. Right action equals appropriate morality, it carrying with it a sense of discerning wisdom, precision and skillful means.

That is why I am calling for a grassroots arising of a heartfelt and committed Lobby of Compassion, a participatory mandala of persons who are willing to link hands, heads and noble hearts in a measured, focused and sustained effort to develop sufficient clear vision and appropriate action to find and pursue another way—as an alternative to the slippery slope of partisan politics and vestiges of Cold War thinking that has afflicted us for centuries. So we may have a century of dialogue upon the heels of the last century of wars, bloodshed and environmental degradation.

You are the most powerful person in your world. Everything you do could be motivated by compassion. A better and more just and equitable world depends on your own clarity of mind, purity of heart, and a decisive spirit. It is within your reach and special power.
Help yourself, help us all.

1) Rest in the breath while letting go of all thoughts, concerns, plans, worries, and preoccupations. 2) Be mindful of the physical sensations you feel right now. 3) Feel the good earth beneath your feet or the seat that cradles you. 4) Chant a mantra or sacred phrase again and again, with pure, undivided concentration and focus. 5) Make eye contact with another being, and feel compassion and loving-kindness for whomever you are with. 6) Smile at someone, hug someone, or help someone 7) Go outside and make contact with nature through the sky, clouds, trees, a flower, a body of water, the earth between your fingers, or any other manifestation of the magnificent natural world. 8) Read sacred worlds from the world’s wisdom traditions and scriptures. 9) Take a break, a sacred pause, an “honorable rest”—whether for Sabbath or just for an hour or two—at least once a week if not every day. 10) Listen to music, sing, dance, pray, and play.

Lama Surya Das introduces the six kinds of mindfulness in Tibetan Buddhism. These forms are about developing mindfulness practically. Surya explores being mindful of the path; of the bigger picture in life; mindfulness of awareness; of the teachings that you have received; of community; and recollection of the source of all radiance, from which everything originates.